The Con Artist
by MazeWolf
Summary: Nalani travels the countryside conning people into believing she is a Herald, until the day she is caught that is. Unfortunately for Herald Axton and his Companion Deonn, they are in a bigger mess than they know.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Heralds of Valdemar.

Chapter 1

Nalani allowed herself to feel a hint of pride at what she had done, and some relief at being away. Buck was feeling good too. She jigged and pulled at the reins wanting to run. Nalani laughed and let the mare go. The horse stretched out into a ground-eating canter. The air was bracingly cold; the sun was out, shining off the snow. Buck was enjoying the chance to run. Her rider, however, was paying no mind to the joys of cantering down a snowy road. Nalani was deep in though. She had successfully conned another village into thinking she was a Herald. It was a brilliant plan. She had stolen a Herald's uniform and equipment from a way station she had stumbled upon. She had also gotten herself a "Companion". It had taken her nearly two years to find a horse that met the requirements: blue-eyes, a white or gray coat, and it had to be a mare or stallion (it would have been difficult to explain why her "Companion" was gelded), but she had found her. The con artist had even taught the horse some tricks; she could rear, kick, nod, and bow on command. It impressed the gullible villagers to no end.

Now, Nalani could get whatever she needed from the trusting fools in the villages and she was free to find the information she needed. She would travel from village to village, never staying for more than a day, two at most. She only wore her stolen uniform when there was a village at least a day's travel in any direction. It was the same in every settlement, she would arrive and attract lots of attention from the villagers, who were falling over themselves to help her, and ask for supplies and information on any local bandit activities. The village members would give her what she asked for and town chits. They expected her to take the chits to the capital and get a reduction on their taxes with them. _'Those town chits are probably the only reason they help me,' _she reflected. She would then move on as soon as she could. If the village folk protested her quick escape she always told them she was on a mission to track down some dangerous criminal that had been reported in the area. They were always eager for her to leave and continue her search after that. The plan was as perfect as any plan could be. The only hitch in her plan was the real Heralds. '_If they ever catch me…_'Nalani shuddered at that thought.

The only exception to the routine had been almost two months ago; Buck had slipped on a patch of ice and sprained her fetlock. Those had been the most nerve-racking nine days of her life. She heard rumours that a real Herald had turned up a few days after she had left. She had been on edge ever since. Now, she no longer stopped at every village she came to. Lately, she had been only passing through the villages. She stopped long enough to ask some questions and then moved on. She did not even stay long enough to resupply. But, their food stores had been all but spent, indeed, they had been on meager rations for days and Buck was beginning to show some rib. Nalani had intended only to resupply, but the chance to sleep indoors for at least one night had over come her better judgment. Both of them had longed for a night out of the cold. The pair had been sleeping in the brush and snow a distance off the roadsides_. 'Maybe its time I stop, she mused, or at least take a break. I can hide this uniform and die Buck's coat….'_

The sound of a second set of hoof beats roused her from her reverie. She wasn't particularly worried; few would dare to attack a Herald. She would be just fine, if she played her part right. That feeling vanished when the galloping horse pulled up next to her. It was a real Companion with a real Herald.

"I've been looking for you." The Herald told her coldly. His Companion flattened its ears and bared its teeth at her. '_Oh hell…'_ she thought. She reined in Buck. The mare was not pleased at her run being ended, but obeyed.

"Well you've found me. How can I help you?" she asked playing the role of helpful Herald, snatching for the thin hope that he'd buy it and leave. It was not to be.

"You are to come with me. You are to be tried and punished for impersonating a Herald." Nalani sighed. _'You knew this day might come'_ she mentally scolded herself. She gave a hefty sigh, "Well, let's get on with it then." Both Herald and Companion looked startled.

"You're not going to try and escape? Defend yourself?" It was Nalani's turn to look at the Herald coldly. "Do I look stupid to you? You have magics so I cannot attack you and your _horse_ could chase Buck down before we got anywhere." The Herald nodded his agreement.

After a pause he said "We need to get you into something else. Now. Do you have other clothes?" Nalani nodded. The Herald watched her, waiting.

"What? Now, now?" Nalani sighed and dismounted and pulled her other clothes out of her saddlebag. The Herald respectfully turned around but the Companion kept his angry gaze on her. Nalani moved to stand on the other side of her mare, and quickly changed. She was relieved to be out of the uniform. She hated the Herald's uniforms. They made her made her feel like a target and it made her sick to wear them. She felt as though she were betraying everything she'd been taught.

"There. Happy now?" she demanded.

"I need your knives and bow too." She rolled her eyes and removed the two sheaths from her belt and handed them over.

"All of them." She gave an irritated sigh and pulled off and wrist sheath and took the knife from her right boot and handed them over. Nalani flipped her copper braid back over her shoulder and looked irritated. Secretly, however she was pleased. The Herald had failed to notice that she had a knife in her other boot and another one down her back. She mounted back up and followed the angry Herald and Companion.

That evening they tended to their mounts in a tense and icy silence.

Herald Axton noted that his captive positively doted on her horse, spending at least twice the amount of time brushing and cleaning her horse than Axton spent on his Companion Deonn. When they were finished Axton took the woman's saddlebags asking, "What's your name, I am going to assume that Herald Alicia is not your real name." The woman said nothing. Axton sat and began to go through the bags' contents. His captive sat as well and watched him like a hawk. He found yet another knife which he added to the pile he'd collected from her earlier; a whet stone; clothes; horse brushes; a hoof pick; another knife; a bag packed with town chits. Axton poured out the little bits of wood stamped with town insignias. There were dozens of chits from villages all over the area.

*Why did she keep those? * Deonn asked, *it looks like she kept all the chits she's ever received. *

*Who knows.* Axton looked up at his captive, *I doubt I'd get an answer .* He switched to the other bag. In it he found a spare saddle blanket; another Herald's uniform; yet another knife (*How many is that now? * Deonn asked); bow polish; bowstrings; food for both horse and rider; rope; and under it all a thin hardwood case that was scarred from travel, but well polished and inside was a silver flute. It tingled in the Herald's hand.

"Do _not_ damage that." The woman tersely warned the Herald.

"Where did you get this?" He asked. She replied only with "It is _mine_."

*There is magic in this and it is very well crafted. * Axton mind-spoke.

*Yes, the spell is well done. It doesn't feel like it's a harmful spell, but be careful anyway Chosen. * Axton nodded then slipped the flute back in its case and snapped it shut. He put the flute, the other knives, the bag of chits, the bowstrings, and the second Herald's uniform in his bags before returning her bags to her.

Axton quietly cooked his meal. His captive rummaged through her bag and emerged with what looked like hardtack. They ate in a cold silence. When Axton finished eating he cut a short stretch of rope of his coil and moved towards the horse. The woman flew to her feet, Deonn looked up from his feed.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"I'm going to hobble her."

"No, you're not." She told him but made no move to stop him. Instead she sat down to watch. Axton shrugged and took another step towards the white horse. The mare took one look at the man approaching her with a rope and exploded. She flew at him ears pinned, teeth bared. Axton leapt back, Deonn flew to get between the two, and the woman rushed to get between the Companion and her horse. Deonn pinned his ears and snapped his teeth. The mare backed off.

Looking the Herald square in the eye she sang out, "Told you so."

"Did you teach her that?"

"I didn't have to." Was the sad reply, the Herald and Companion exchanged a glance. She turned to the tense mare and petted her muttering pointless nothings. Axton sat back down on his bedroll. When the mare calmed down the woman moved to her own bedroll.

"Come here." The Herald told her. She looked at him through narrowed eyes.

"Why?" Axton sighed, picked up the rope, and pulled himself to his feet.

"I can't have you riding off in the middle of the night. Now turn around." She complied. She was rigid as a post and her hands were fisted tightly. Axton bound her hands loosely, but securely, behind her. She tested the ropes.

"This is going to be uncomfortable." She complained. Deonn snorted and Axton ignored her. The woman sighed. The Herald and Companion watched with interest as she tried to grab a hold of her bed. After several tries, she managed to grab the corner of her bed and dragged it to her horse. She tapped the mare twice on the fetlock with her foot. The mare sank to the ground with a sigh and she dropped the bed on the ground between the mare's hooves before flopping down on it. She seemed to fall asleep instantly.

*Do you think she's ever been stepped on doing that? * Deonn asked.

*I have no idea, but I'd never do that with a horse.* Deonn snorted and the pair went about getting comfortable.

*G'night.*

*Night.*

The next morning Herald and Companion found their prisoner still sleeping between her mount's hooves. The only difference was that the rope that had bound her hands was in a tangled knot by the fire's ashes.

*Maybe it wasn't as tight as you though. *

*No, I tied that fairly tight. * Axton blew out a deep breath and ran a hand through his ruffled blond hair, *At least she didn't run off. *

*She said she wasn't stupid. *

*She was impersonating a Herald. *

*Well…. *

Axton handed her to rope after they mounted up. "Fix it."

The two had ridden in silence for several hours before Nalani finally asked, "So, what is my punishment?" She did not expect an answer. She had refused to answer all the Herald's questions. She would not even tell him her name.

"You will be sent to the Collegium in the capital for a year."

She snorted, "I'm being sent to school?" she snorted again. The Herald went on as though she had said nothing.

"During that time you will be taught skills that will help the Herald that caught you. After a year at Haven I will take you with me on my circuit. During this time you will work off what you took from the people you tricked."

He cocked his head to the side. Then nodded and added, "While you are at the Collegium you will help caring for un-Chosen Companions."

"What if I decide that I don't want to go on this circuit with you?"

"Then you will stay at the capital, caring for un-Chosen Companions…." Nalani glanced at the Companion next to her. His nasty look warned her that caring for the Companions would be no pleasant task. _'Fine, it's only a short delay. Even if I will have to work for those evil beasts,'_ she told herself.

"Or I could return you to the villages you visited and you can work off you debts there." The con artist quickly decided she'd go to school.

That night as Axton went through his bags getting what he need for the night out. Something was not quite right. He went through his bags again.

*What's wrong? * Deonn asked.

*That flute, its gone.*

*Really?* Axton and his Companion looked at each other then shifted their gaze to the woman cocked an eyebrow at them. Axton stalked over and quickly flipped open one of her saddlebags. He found the flute sitting on top. He said nothing as he returned to his side of the camp, but the little quirk at the corner of the mouth side volumes.

*How do you suppose she got it out of your bag without waking either of us? * his Companion asked.

*I have no clue.* He answered as he grabbed up the now unknotted length of rope. Axton stalked over to his detainee. This time he made his knots as tight as he could without cutting off the circulation in here hands. Well, at least not severely. The woman said nothing but twisted and flexed her hands, annoyed. Axton noticed there was the scar forming a deep furrow across her right palm from the outside edge or her wrist to just under the first joint of her index finger.

"Are you trying to tourniquet my hands off?" she hissed.

"What happened to your hand?" He asked before he though.

Her answer was to curl her hand closed. Axton returned to his side of the fire.

*You knew she wouldn't tell you. Why bother? *

*I couldn't help. That was a nasty cut. It probably damaged the tendons in her hand. * Axton replied, "showing" his Companion what he'd seen. He got the impression of Deonn raising his eyebrows. *That is bad. Only a Healer could fix that kind of damage. *

*Yes, but she is belligerent. So why bother? * Axton repeated his partner. Deonn nodded.

The next morning was the same as the first with the rope knotted into a ball and the flute back in the woman's saddle pack.

*How the hell is she doing it? * Axton asked Deonn as they all rode out of their camp.

* No idea. Whatever she's doing she's quick and quiet about it since she did not wake _me_. I am a light sleeper. *

That night Axton bound the woman's hands a third time with the now untangled rope. The moon was not full that night but it was bright and sky was cloudless. Both Herald and Companion feigned sleep for several hours before the woman made her move. She quietly rolled away from her horse to get more space. She moved her hands down low, to hip level. She arched her back and slid her hands to the back of her knees. From there she moved her bound hands as close to her feet as she could and then carefully pulled first on foot then the other over the rope.

* Can you do that? * Deonn asked his partner.

*I'd break something trying. *

The woman cast a condescending look at her "sleeping" captors. Returning to her bed she worked the knots loose with her teeth and hands. Soon she held the length in her hand and stared at the Herald. For a moment Axton thought she knew he was watching. She wrapped the rope around both hands and pulled it taught. The woman looked at the rope and than at her captour. Axton did not like the coldness he saw in her gaze. Nor did Deonn, he snorted and shuffled as though he were dreaming. The woman's dark gaze was drawn to the Companion. After a long moment she began to tie the rope into another complex knot.

The next day the flute was back in the prisoner's bags again.

*Well now we know how she got out of the rope, but she never touched my packs.*

*I know what it is!* Deonn crowed *It's an anti-theft spell. No matter who takes that flute or how far away they go it always returns to it's owner.*

*How did a thief get a hold of a solid silver flute with a theft prevention spell on it?*

*Perhaps she conned someone out of it? There is more than one way to rob someone.* Deonn suggested.

Axton sighed, *Yes, there is.*

The rest of their trip to Haven was uneventful and Axton did not bother to tie her hands again or take the flute.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Heralds of Valdemar.

Chapter 2

Nalani had been standing outside the door of the room under guard for over an hour while the Herald who had caught her talked with the other Herald inside. She looked around her; the Collegium was very impressive, particularly to someone like her who had never been out of the rural backwoods. Her guard was an older woman, who despite her years, looked fully capable of taking care of herself. Nalani once again tried to calm to racing of her heart and resign herself to this delay. The door opened and the guard gestured to her to proceed inside.

The door swung shut behind her and Nalani was left standing between the Herald who had brought her here and a huge wood desk covered in neat stacks of papers. On a cleared spot on the desk her flute sat in its battered case.

"Have a seat. What is your name Ms…?" The new Herald gestured to the plain straight-backed chair in front on his desk. His tone was neutral, stern, but not mean. Nalani's gaze shifted between the two.

"If you will not answer my questions then I will Truth Spell you and compel you to answer. The decision is yours." The man warned her. Nalani felt a moment of panic, _'If they cast the whole Truth Spell on me they'll find it, then they'll kill me.' _She made her decision. She grabbed the back of the chair and pulled it farther away from the desk before perching on the edge of it. The older Herald's face betrayed nothing about his thoughts.

"Your name." He repeated.

"…Nalani."

"And where do you come from Nalani?"

She answered by waving he hand "Here and there." She watched the new Herald to see how he was reacting to her vague answer. She almost missed it when the other Herald cast the Truth Spell on her. She barely had enough to pull her defences in tighter to keep them from interfering with the spell._ 'At least its only a partial Truth Spell.'_

"How did you get this?" He gestured to the flute.

"It is _mine_." She answered.

"That is not what I asked and you will address me as Headmaster Thomas or sir. You should show some respect."

"I'm a miscreant. I don't respect anything." Was the defiant retort. The man eyed her coldly. "Where did you get this?"

"It was given to me."

"By whom? Did you trick them into giving it to you?"

"…My father gave it to me." This seemed to satisfy the Headmaster as he closed the case and put it aside.

"The people of this kingdom trust Heralds and rely on them for help and information about the rest of the kingdom. You have defiled the trust the people place in us when you impersonated a Herald. This is a serious crime. So let me explain what is going to happen to you now. You have three choices, which I'm sure Herald Axton has already told you about."

'_So that's his name.'_

"Your first option is to go back to each of the villages and work off your debt to each of them. Your other choice is to stay here for the duration of one year. During this time you will be taking classes. These classes will be based on what you already know. I will test you later. If you are not in class you will be studying or in the Companion's stables. You will care for five Companions on rotation everyday. The Stable Master will have a more in-depth explanation for you.

"You will live in the student wing with the other students. You will wear a black uniform at all times so you will be easily picked out. You will also wear this." He gestured to a wide, steel bracelet. She could sense the magic in it.

"This will prevent you from leaving the Collegium's grounds and it will prevent you from going into rooms you do not belong in. Once on, you will not be able to remove it. You will be allowed to associate with the other students here. We are not cruel enough to put you in isolation_." _

'_I'll be the judge of that' _she silently answered. The man's voice became cold,

"However, if you do attempt to corrupt the students here you will be isolated. Any questions so far?" She shook her head. "After your year is up, you may either remain here caring for the unChosen Companions or you can assist Herald Axton as he travels his circuit until it has been decided that you have worked off your debt. The choice is yours."

Nalani thought for a moment. She did not want to go back to the villages she conned. The villagers would be very unforgiving. She suppressed a shudder at the thought. _'This is a rock and hard place, but I don't want to have to deal with enraged villagers.'_

"I will…stay here." She ground out. The Herald nodded and gestured for her arm. With a sigh she stretched it out so he could put the cuff on her. It tingled on her arm and defences hummed in response to it.

"Any questions so far?"

The young woman thought a moment. "Can I keep Buck?" seeing the older man's confusion she add, "the mare." The headmaster raised his eyebrows and was silent for a moment.

"Did you steal her?"

"No!" was the angry reply. The headmaster frowned at her.

"Lying will not help you."

"I did not steal her, I _saved _her. That man was going to kill her." The headmaster took a moment to consider the request. Nalani leaned forward her hands had a white knuckled grip on the chair.

"You will not take her from me." This got her a warning look.

"Threats will not help you either."

"It is not a threat, it is a fact. I go where she goes." After a moment she added, "Add her to my debt, add her board to my debt, I do not care but you will not take her." The head Herald considered this and then consented to it. The chair's arms creaked when she released them. The Heralds glanced at each other across the room. Herald Thomas raised and eyebrow at his friend and Herald Axton shook his head, bewildered, at the woman's sudden intensity.

"Then yes, you may keep her. Now, onto you're testing. Can you read or write?"

"Yes." She answered. He looked up from the notes he was taking.

"Read these questions and answer them." He told her passing her a quill and a sheet of parchment. Nalani complied.

"Very good, now how about mathematics. Can you…."

Nalani ran a brush over Buck's dusty coat. She was in a foul mood. The testing had gone on and on with two Heralds watching her every move. They had left the Truth Spell on her the entire time too and now she had an aching head from constantly have to keep her protection from consuming the spell and giving her away. Nalani had proven she was far from ignorant. At one point the tester had asked how she had come to know so much without having ever attended a school. Her reply had been that she was a con artist and con artists needed to know a little of everything. He had mulled over that for a few minutes before resuming his testing.

Following the academics test Headmaster Thomas had tested her for any magical ability and Nalani had almost panicked and blown her cover. She knew that her defences could hide her from all but the most vigorous probing, but it still had been nerve-racking.

After all the academic testing the Herald had sent her to see the Weapons Master. The Herald who had caught her had followed along. To the Weapons master Nalani had proven that she was a very deft hand with a bow and that she was a good, but very dirty, knife fighter. After that the Herald had left her in the care of the guardswoman who would be escorting and keeping an eye on her for the first few days. The woman, Lesya, had sternly warned Nalani that she would not be putting up with any foolishness from her and Nalani had believed her. She had quietly followed the woman to the tailor who fitted her for her new uniform and then to the Companions' field.

This was the part that she had dreaded the most. She had no desire to work with these evil creatures, but she would do what she had to. The stable master told her that she was to perform any tasks he needed done. Plus, he had assigned her five stalls. It was her tasks to make sure that they always had water, feed, and were clean. She would also be required to groom the Companions the used them. Some how Nalani didn't think that there would be just five Companions using these stalls.

After that, however, her escort had shown her to where her horse was staying. Nalani had ducked under a fence rail whistling for her mare. She had been greeted by her formerly white horse who was now a brown, muddy mess. She sighed as she worked some mud out of her horse's tail. _'This is nothing. I'll do what I must. Besides, Master always said it was wise to know one's enemy. I think I'll learn a lot more here than these Heralds want me to.'_

The guard and the ringing of a bell interrupted her thoughts.

"Come on its time to eat." The woman told her. Nalani was reluctant to leave.

"Don't worry about her. The stable master will take good care of her."

After a second she patted her mare and turned to follow her temporary keeper. "Where is my room?" The woman led to her new room where she would live for the next year. It was small but furnished with a cot; a desk that had a small bookrack built onto it; a chest for clothing; and a small table where a basin sat. Her flute was not there but she was not too concerned. It would come back to her soon enough. There were bars on her windows. They were newly added. The wood around the window frame was a lighter colour than the rest of the wall. After jamming the chair under the doorknob, she dropped to the floor and turned her gaze to the bracelet. It hummed and her protections buzzed at it in reply but did not try to consume it. She concentrated on the bracelet reading the spell on it. She sighed. The bracelet would do just as the headmaster had told her. It would not let her leave the Collegiums grounds or enter rooms she had no business being in. Plus, it had a tracking spell in it. So if she did somehow manage to escape they could find her easily enough. She sighed again and tried to mentally prepare herself for enduring the next year in her new, fancy prison. When the Lesya knocked on the door to remind her it was dinnertime, she ignored her.

A soft clatter woke her later that night and she looked up to see her flute and case on her desk. She went back to sleep with a grin on her face.

Axton leaned back from the table with a sigh. It was nice to finally be able to eat at a table again. His good friend, Herald Thomas, sat across from him, his food was untouched. He leaned over the silver flute examining it with his Sight.

"Well, what do you think?"

"This is amazing. The spell on this is…I have never seen anything like it." Herald Thomas enthused.

"What's so exciting about a theft-prevention spell?"

"There is the spell to keep it from being stolen but under that there is another spell. I'm not sure how it works exactly but it looks like it has something to do with the way the flute sounds."

"What do you mean?"

"Well wind instruments sound different depending on their shape and what they're made of. This spell seems to make this one an all-purpose flute. If you know how to trigger the spell you should be able to make it sound like any wind instrument you want it to."

"Really? The Bards would love to be able to get their hands on a spell like that. Do you know how it works?" Thomas considered a moment.

"I think you do this…" the Herald tweaked the spell. They started when the flute disappeared.

"I guess that wasn't it." Axton chuckled. Thomas looked around the table.

"That's interesting. It took it's case with it too. Hm. Judging from how things went today I doubt she'd let me borrow it for more examinations."

Axton suggested. "You could confiscate it."

"Everyday? After it returns to its proper owner? Besides we're supposed to be the good guys and not lord power over others." His friend lectured. The other Herald held up his hand to stop the lecture.

"It was just a suggestion. And speaking of that. What did you think of her?" Thomas steepled his fingers in thought, "She is…complex. She is very well educated in many areas for some one who has received no formal teaching, her profession notwithstanding. I also think that she only told us just enough to please us. She has no magic abilities and yet she has a flute that requires magic to use properly and she was able to find and gain access to a way station, which is protected, by magic, to prevent this sort of thing from happening. She cares nothing about her own personal welfare, she did not even try to escape you, and yet the though of being separated from a horse received more of a reaction than the idea that she is a prisoner here. What did Geralt say about her fighting?"

"He said 'her fighting is half Valdamarian and half Karasite glued together with lots of dirty tricks.' From what I saw it seems like she had some formal training to start with and has just added whatever she came across to it over the years."

"I would like to know her story in full, but short of Truth Spelling her I don't think we'll get it. But that would be counterproductive." The older Herald yawned, "Unlike you my friend I have classes to teach in the morning, so I will bid you a good night. How long are you going to stay?"

"I'll stay a few days or so, but it depends on Deonn." Axton bid his friend good night and wandered off to his own rooms.

The next morning Nalani took up her tasks and began her classes. She followed her guard through the halls to where she needed to go, carefully mapping the building out in her head as she went. The whispers and stares of the students followed her everywhere. News that a real live criminal was in the midst of the student body had spread quickly. She was concerned that some of the students would try something, but no one did.

'_I wonder if they will ignore me the whole time or if they're just waiting for the guard to leave. Would the guard even help me if they did try something?'_ she wondered.

She had classes all morning, then a lunch break. She sat alone, except for her escort, the icy glare that she directed at all who approached her made sure it stayed that way. Following lunch was weapons practice and as she started towards the exit one of the students walked up to her. The room went silent all eyes on her and the boy. It was a dare judging by the smirks and suppressed giggles of a group of boys nearby_. 'What do they think I'm here for? Their entertainment?'_ She wondered irritably. She cast a glance to the guard nearby. The thought returned unbidden._ 'Would she do anything if he attacked me?'_

"Welcome to the Collegium!" the lad cried throwing his arms wide. He moved to embrace her in a welcoming hug. Nalani nipped around him and planted her knee firmly into his stomache. After this Lesya marched her to the headmaster. Her actions had earned her a rigorous lecture from Master Thomas and extra laps from the Weapons Master for being late. But, she had gotten her point across: she was not to be messed with.

Following the weapons practice was her work in the Companions' stable. Then dinner and after that the rest of the evening was hers.

No one else approached her. Nalani supposed it was due to the fact that she was very easy to spot. Her black uniform stood out sharply against the gray, blue, and white of everyone else. Her fighting abilities and cold demeanor also contributed greatly to keeping any would be pranksters away. As the year passed she fell into a routine. She enjoyed the classes and weapons training as well as rummaging through the library. Had it not been for the fact that she was a prisoner here she would have enjoyed her stay, that and the Companions. They were what she hated the most. Her stalls were always the dirtiest ones and the Companions she had to brush were as difficult as possible. Everyday she got nipped, squashed against a wall, and had her feet were stepped on too many times to count. The only thing she purely enjoyed has the time she spent with Buck. Every spare moment that was not taken up with her work or her quest for knowledge she had she spent teaching her mare new tricks. The mare could now open gates, carry things, and walk on her hind legs, among other things, with voice and hand commands.

Normally, she would be teaching Buck a new trick right now, instead she was simply sitting with her, thinking. Tomorrow her year would be up. The Herald, Axton, had arrived a fortnight ago.

A bell tolled the hour and Nalani slowly stood up. This would be the last time she cleaned those damned Companions and their nasty stalls. When she finished she was to report to Thomas. He would tell her what she could expect while on circuit with the Herald, but most importantly, he would remove the bracelet. She hated that thing almost as much as she hated the Companions. '_One more day and I get back to work….' _


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Heralds of Valdemar.

**Chapter 3**

Nalani rode a few feet behind the Herald and his Companion; she tried to always ride behind them. Even after more than seven months on the road with them she didn't like the Companion behind her where she couldn't see him. Night was slowly falling and the air was beginning to cool off. It was almost fall but summer didn't seem to want to release it's grip on the world just yet. She fiddled with the bracelet on her wrist.

Things had not gone as she had hoped they would. Instead of removing it the old Herald had modified the spell on it. The Herald had a matching one attuned to hers and through that connection he could find her no matter where she ran off. Her protections had become used to bracelet while at the Collegium, but when the spells had been changed they had taken offense to it again. It had driven her to distraction for the first several weeks she'd worn it. Her aggravated defenses had caused her arm to tingle and prickle like it had fallen asleep for weeks and there had been an irritating buzzing, ringing in the back of her mind. Finally, her protections had decided that the band's altered magic was not violating them and left it alone. She was extremely grateful. If it had lasted much longer she worried that she might have tried to cut her arm off just to get relief.

Life traveling with the Herald was not what she had expected either. Nalani had been surprised at first at the amount of freedom she was given. _'Well its not like I can go anywhere. With this damned thing on me they can track me anywhere.'_ She knocked the bracelet against the side of the saddle and wished it gone. _'Well, I suppose things could be worse. At least they gave the Herald a new route so we wouldn't go through all the villages I conned.'_

He (Nalani never referred to him by his name) did not ask her to do much. She had to care for her equipment and horse, but they took turns with the other menial tasks. When they were in town she ran errands, helped where she was told to, restocked supplies, and took care of any other tasks that needed to be done so that the Herald would have more time to assist the people. She had also been allowed to carry weapons, not as many as she would have liked, but it was more than she had expected. She had a short sword, a pair of knives, and a bow. After discovering that she was a far better shot than he, the Herald had started bringing her on any and all hunt trips. She knew the Companion did not like her being alone with the Herald while armed and away from his ever-watchful eye. They argued about it a lot. She could tell because the Herald always got a crease between his brows when they argued as opposed to the distant look he got when they were just talking. She had spent a great deal of time surreptitiously watching them, studying.

"We won't reach the next place tonight," the Herald called back to her. She did not answer. On principle, she avoiding talking to him whenever possible. So she did not answer that she knew that because he hadn't put on his clean set of Whites that he saved for whenever they were close to a bit a civilization. Even though she studied him, she did not try to play the Herald. She knew that Heralds could not be fooled easily, especially not with the Companion present. Nor did she make any escape attempts. Being able to read the spell on the bracelet she knew that aimless fleeing would be pointless. Besides her deviation form the behaviour that was expected of her put her wardens off-balance. _'That is the best way to have your opponents: uncertain and unsure.' _She recalled the lesson with a small smile.

She knew the time would come when she would have her chance to kill this Herald and his Companion and reclaim her freedom. She also knew that if they ever found out what she was they would kill her.

She let her thoughts wonder aimlessly. _'That's odd. Why does it feel like I have been here before? I've never been here.'_ Nonetheless, she could not shake the feeling that there was something about this place. Something she should know but could not remember. She worried at the feeling like a dog worrying a bone.

Axton found a nice little niche inside a small ring of oak a short distance from the road.

*_This looks like a good spot._* Deonn commented. *_How far are we from the next town?_*

Axton looked at his map. *_Uh, we should be there tomorrow. Early afternoon at the latest. It is a new little hamlet called… Oak Wood._*

Deonn snorted, *_that is a very original name._*

Axton chuckled as he folded up the map and dismounted. He pulled Deonn's tack off and started to rub him down.

*_Something is wrong with our companion._* Deonn told him. Axton turned to see Nalani still mounted, frowning intently at nothing. Usually she was off in a flash tending to her strange mare with the same devoted fashion she had when he had first met her.

"Something wrong?" he asked. Nalani's attention snapped to him and her expression instantly reverted back the unreadable mask she always wore around him. She dismounted and went about her tasks.

*_That was unusual._* Deonn noted.

*_Yes it was. _* Axton went back to rubbing Deonn down before turning his attention to setting up the camp. He scrounged about for tinder to get a fire started while Nalani wandered off to collect some wood. The white mare strolled away to find a nice spot to roll, pausing to move Nalani's saddlebags further away from the fire Axton was starting.

*_You are sure that she's not a Companion?_*

*_Yes, Chosen. All Companions were accounted for when we found her. She is not a Companion. Just a very… uncanny… horse._*

*_If you say so… but I still wonder._*

The Herald was relieved that his ward was not a handful. He had been worried when they had first started out together that she would be trying to bolt all the time or take advantage of people's constant misconception that she too was a Herald. She never tried either. '_But I'm not sure if her cooperation is a good sign or something to be concerned about.' _

After Axton had realized that she was not going to be a pain in the backside he had started trying to find out something about her. Thomas had had remarkably little to report to him after observing her for a year.

She had proven to be only a mediocre student in her classes, but Thomas was positive that she had been holding back. She had also apparently been an avid reader, going through almost the entire library. She had displayed an unusual distaste for Companions as well as masochistic streak. She had refused to see a Healer for any reason, not even when she had been accidently injured during a sparing match. Other than that Thomas had little to report. She had made no friends and kept to herself.

Axton knew that Deonn did not like her very much. She worried the Companion a great deal. Her failure to try and escape or ply her trade on them bothered the Companion. Deonn had confided to him that sometimes when he saw her out of the corner of his eye that she seemed to have a sparkle around her. A sparkle that was very similar to the way Gifted people looked to the Companion in his Sight. Yet Thomas had tested Nalani himself and Axton had been there. The woman did not have even the smallest hint of the Gift.

Axton shrugged the musings aside about the strange mare and her stranger rider. While Nalani was one of the most interesting people he had ever met, she was also the most introverted person he had ever met. At least around him, both he and Deonn had seen her working people. Neither of them was ever able to get close enough to hear the conversation. Their white colour made them too easy to spot. But Axton did talk to her targets afterward. She never asked them for anything., Oddly enough, she asked much the same questions he did; questions about raids, local trouble, and the like. It left both Axton and Deonn puzzled. However, Nalani answered all questions with silence. Since she did not cause any problems and was not taking anything, Axton let the matter lie. Both he and Deonn agreed that forcing an answer now would cause more trouble than it was worth. They would both watch her and Axton would try and see if he could ease her out of her internal fortress.

Nalani distractedly snatched up fallen branches trying to pin down what it was about this place that bothered her so much. Reaching for a branch while lost in her circling thoughts, Nalani was startled to feel metal beneath her hand. She looked to see she was holding her flute. The stubborn thing had been popping up whenever she wasn't paying attention lately.

'_Now I know why Timon hated this cursed thing.' _She straightened with a sigh and tossed the instrument on the ground. It would go home to it's case soon enough. She gathered up an armload of wood before returning to the little camp and dumped it near the fire, between their two bedrolls. She was relieved that tonight was not her turn to cook. As distracted as she felt she'd burn the food, which would bring about unwanted questions. She sat on her bed and propped herself against a tree. She watched Buck forage about and let her thoughts run their circles, like a dog chasing it's tail.

"Tomorrow we should reach a little place called Oak Wood. We'll get there late morning, earl afternoon," the Herald told her. He was always talking to her trying to draw her out. Usually she just wanted him to shut up and leave her be, but tonight his voice was a welcome distraction from her spinning thoughts.

'_He'd have made a good con artist. He is not half bad at working people. Too bad he picked this profession,' _she mused.

"This place was only established four, maybe five years ago. It is a pretty small place," Axton said. He tried to talk to Nalani almost every night, trying to draw her out. She rarely said anything back, but Axton was patient. He knew she listened to him, he could tell by the way she would tilt her head his way.

_*I don't know why you keep trying Chosen. She is too stubborn for her own good.*_

_*Patience is the key Deonn. We are making progress: she no longer watches me like I am going to attack her at any moment anymore.*_

_*She still looks at _me _that way.* _Deonn retorted.

_*True, but before I thought she was going to try and kill you given half the chance.*_

_* Well, you are more patient then I. But I don't think even you will be able to draw that one out. Good luck anyway though.* _ Deonn turned back to his feed. Axton reached for more fuel for the little fire.

"It will be good to reach some civilization. I know I for one am tired of travel food and ready for a hot meal! I bet you are too, huh? Well Oak Wood…."

Both Companion and ward looked up at his pause. Axton looked, bewildered at the thin silver flute that had been in the firewood.

"I, uh, think this is yours." Nalani looked at the flute in his hand like it might bite her. She started to say something, changed her mind, and held her hand out. Before he could even start to get up the little instrument leapt from his hand and appeared in hers. For a moment Axton though she was going to throw into the fire. Instead, she rummaged in her bag and pulled out it's little, battered case and fished a little cloth out of it. Then went about cleaning it in a very deliberate manner, polishing every inch and blowing into all the holes to clear them.

"That is a very interesting instrument. I notice it has been popping up of late. Even Herald Thomas has never seen anything like it and he loves researching and studying these kinds of things. Why does it keep appearing everywhere? It didn't do that before." Axton paused to give her a chance to answer if she wished to. "Do you play? Because I know I wouldn't mind a bit of music if you want to…"

"No. I don't play.", she answered firmly.

"Then why carry it around? Why not sell it?", Axton asked encouraged by her answer. However, he did not receive any more answers for his trouble. Nalani gave the little thing one more polish, placed it back into the case, and then very deliberately shut the lid and latched it. She buried it in the bottom of her bag before rolling up in her bedroll with her back to her traveling companions.

*_Well I'm impressed._*

*_See? You just need patience._*

*_And a weird flute,* _Deonn chuckled.

*_Whatever works Companion mine._*

The next morning dawned cool and cloudless, the Herald had dressed in his "arrival Whites". Nalani rode behind the Herald as usual. Her thoughts no longer ran in aimless circles, instead she wondered what to do about her flute. She had almost gifted it to the Herald, but changed her mind. That was the way it was; one moment she wanted dearly to destroy the thing and the next she couldn't bear to part with it. Her thoughts came to an end when they came upon the little hamlet.

"Greetings Heralds!" an older man waved to them. They always thought she was a Herald on her "Companion" even though she wasn't in white.

"Hello! I am Herald Axton and this is my traveling companion Nalani." He always introduced her as his traveling companion and never tried to explain that she was not a Herald.

'_Probably take too much time and give people ideas._'

"My name's Jack. I guess I'm what goes for a mayor around here. We are happy to see you. It's been awhile since a Herald passed through these parts. Follow me. I've got a place you can put your Companions and gear."

The older man led them away from the road. The little town could not have had more than twenty people, thirty at most, and was laid out in a rounded square shape. Their host's house was in the northwest corner, almost backed by woods on two sides.

"You two can stay here, in my house, and your Companions can stay in the little field I got in the back. It's not much, nothing fancy."

"Thank you, it's perfect after sleeping on the road for that past three weeks. If you will give me a moment to take care of Deonn, after that, I'd be honoured if you would show me your lovely little town. Could you have someone help Nalani restock any supplies we may need?"

The man beaming from the complement to his home nodded, "My daughter Tasha can help her. She's inside." They quickly stripped their mounts and turned them out. Axton left with the "mayor" and Nalani went in to find this Tasha. She was easy to find, the house only had three rooms. Tasha showed them where they were to stay.

'_This is probably her room. But she doesn't know whether to be miffed at having to give it up to strangers or pleased that a Herald is staying in it.' _ Nalani looked on, amused as the girl, who looked to be middle to late teens, tried to pick an emotion. She finally settled on the favourite teenager emotion: indifference.

"We are running a bit low on travel fare. Do you know anyone around here who may have a bit of food to spare?" Nalani asked.

"I can take you to see Zeke. He's a trapper; he always has plenty of salted meat. I suppose we could ask around and see what people have to spare."

"Alright. That sounds like a plan," Nalani said playing the role of humble guest., "Lead on." _'This girl seems a little too eager to help.'_

"Where does this Zeke live? Do you think he will be home?"

"Oh, he's out scouting his trapping route for this winter, but his son Wesley is there."

'_And the truth comes out. This is going to be easy.' _ Nalani grinned to herself at the way the girl sighed "Wesley".

"So tell me about this Wesley. What is he like? " Nalani asked as she followed the girl out the door and across the little town. Acquiring the meat was easy, getting Tasha out of the trapper's house was much more difficult.

Nalani followed the girl from hose to house. She had to say little to keep the girl rambling. She needed only nudge the conversation in one direction or another and Tasha would chatter away. '_This is like taking candy from a baby.'_

Several hours later Nalani was helping Tasha with some mending while they waited for dinner to finish cooking. Nalani was beginning to feel a headache starting. Tasha talked nonstop about everything: how wonderful Wesley was, some woman named Emery who was trying to court her father, the weather, how wonderful Wesley was, how she would like to travel, how wonderful Heralds were. She had an opinion about everything and went on and on. Nalani was seriously considering stuffing the shirt she was failing to mend in the girl's mouth to shut her up.

"So…what's it like?" Tasha asked.

"What?"

"Traveling with a Herald of course!"

"Its like traveling with anyone else I suppose."

"Are you a Herald? You aren't wearing white."

"No. I just travel with one."

"I though only Heralds could travel with other Heralds. You have a Companion." The girl accused.

"No, she is just a white horse. I just travel with the Herald to… to help him do his job more efficiently."

"Oh…I see." Nalani looked up from the shirt. She did not like that sly, knowing tone. The girl was grinning wickedly at her.

"He is awfully cute. That last Herald that came here was an old man. You even have matching bracelets. That is _so_ sweet," she winked at Nalani, "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone!" Nalani did not have to feign surprise, taken aback by the girl's preposterous conclusion. Thankfully, something out the window distracted her.

"Tch, father promised he'd stay out of the woods at night," Tasha grumbled. Nalani could just make out in the failing light the Herald and several other men coming out of the woods behind the house. They were all filthy and tired looking. '_I wonder what they were doing?'_

"Oh, why is that? Do you know where they went?" she asked Tasha.

"They probably went to go see some creepy old graves Wesley and Zeke found awhile back," Tasha noticed Nalani's startled look, "I know! Weird isn't it? But there is apparently a graveyard in the woods, out in the middle of nowhere. I haven't seen it. Father won't let me go out in the woods."

Nalani suddenly knew where she was and why this place had seemed familiar to her. Quickly, she tucked the revelation away to deal with later and covered her shock.

"Why can't you go into the woods? I would think that you could take care of yourself. You seem very capable."

"There is something out there."

'_Oh, that is _so _helpful.' _ Nalani resisted rolling her eyes and played along, "Something? What do you mean?"

Tasha lean in conspiratorially, "People have been seeing _something_ in the woods. Always when it starts to get dark. Wesley says sometimes he's out in the woods everything will go silent and he feels like something is watching him. And something killed half of the Willion's goats in the middle of the night and they never heard a thing. Their dog didn't even bark. Nip is good dog too. Nothing gets past her. Emery says she saw a huge snake in the woods. She says it was as high as her hip, but she is an idiot. Father says its nothing to worry about, but he won't let me go out in the woods alone and not at all when it starts to get dark." Tasha informed her.

Nalani schooled her face into a look of concerned interest but inside she was gleeful. She knew what was in the woods. Her chance had come. Tonight she would make her move.

'_By this time tomorrow I'll be free and on my way!'_

Nalani waited until the Herald's breathing evened out. She knew he was tired. Whatever he'd left to do with those other villagers had been taxing. She waited a bit longer just to be sure before slipping out the window. She hated to leave her equipment but she could not risk trying to smuggle it out. _'I'll have Buck and she's the most important and the flute and it's box will find me. Everything else can be replaced.'_ Nalani slipped through the shadows to where their mounts were kept. They were loose so she did not have to worry about trying to open the livestock pen. The Companion seemed to be asleep but he was a very light sleeper. Nalani slipped back towards the road and then made her way through the edge of the trees to where her mare rested. She gave a quiet, low whistle that sounded like a screech owl to call Buck to her. The mare ambled quietly towards her. Nalani gave her mare a pat and led her away. She headed north directly away from the main road and this backwoods little town. But, like a needle towards a lodestone, she was drawn westward to where Tasha had told her the little graveyard was. She paused when she reached the edge of the little clearing.

'_It's smaller than I remember. The trees have grown in.' _As she approached the seven cairns laid out in a neat row she noticed they looked wrong.

'_There aren't any plants on them. Someone has cleaned them off!' _Suddenly it dawned on her what the Herald and the villagers had been doing all day. The sudden rush of gratitude made her uneasy so she turned her attention to the bracelet.

'_It is time for this thing to come off!' _She folded her thumb to her palm until it popped out and tried to slide the brass ring over her hand. It would not pass over her hand no matter how hard she jerked it. When the skin around her wrist and hand began to sting she stopped and studied it. She felt a warning twitch from her protections. Slowly she tried to slide it off. As she did a new part of the spell that had been dormant rose to the surface.

"Damn that old man! Damn him!" Buck started and gave a sharp snort at her rider's unusual outburst. Another spell she had missed prevented her, or anyone else, from removing the band unless they possessed the other bracelet. Nalani started to curse, then stopped. A graveyard was no place for such things. Defeated by the spell Nalani turned to the graves and looked solemnly over them.

She sighed, '_No one has come to mourn over you. Except a Herald. How ironic is that?' _ She heaved another sigh '_I should get moving. I have a good head start. I could stay ahead of them until they get killed. But first I owe you at least one dirge.' _ She reached out her hand and the little flute appeared in it. She reached out to it, ignoring another warning from her defences, and changed it. When she blew into in instead of a high, ringing sound it produced the deeper, resonating sound of a wood flute twice it's size. Nalani took a deep breath and began to play a rolling, mournful song.

*_Axton wake up!_* Deonn's shout rang in his head startling him from sleep.

*_What?_*

*_Is Nalani there? Buck is gone._* Axton looked around the tiny room and spotted only an empty bedroll.

*_Damn it, she's gone._* Axton scrambled for his boots and quietly hurried out of the small house. There was no point in waking their hosts. Deonn was waiting for him at the door. Axton vaulted up and concentrated on bracelet Thomas had given him. He felt a gentle tug to the northwest.

*_Well, I was wondering when she was going to try and make a break for it._*

*_Me too. She's heading through the woods behind the houses._*

They made slow progress. The moon was a bright sliver, but not bright enough to completely break through the canopy.

*_She seems to be heading towards that little graveyard. Do you hear that?_*

*_What?_* Axton turned his attention from his bracelet and listened. There was a faint sound working through the trees.

*_What is that? Is that…music?_*

*_Sounds like a flute. I think she may have lied to you Chosen._*

"Come on."

Nalani sank to the ground and pulled her knees up to rest her forehead on them as the last notes faded away. The flute glinted in her listless hand. She could feel the other bracelet's resonance with her own. The Herald was very close; there was no point in running now. She had not meant to stay so long, but once here she could not leave.

She heard the Herald approach and sit next to her. He said nothing for a long while.

"That was a very sad song. Did you know them? Were they your family?"

After a long pause she answered, "No… we… traveled for a time."

"How did they die?" he asked gently. His only answer was a muffled sniff. After a long while Nalani picked her head up from her knees and fixed the Herald with a hard stare.

"Did you do that?" she asked gesturing towards the graves.

"We cleaned them, yes."

"…Thank you." She told him so softly he almost did not hear her.

"You know, if you wanted to come here you only had to ask. And…if you need help you only have to ask."

"Why would you help me?" She again fixed him with a piercing stare.

"I am a Herald, I help people. It's what Heralds do."

"And what will this help cost me?"

"Nothing. You should know that. You have seen that I don't charge people for the help I give them."

"You are paid by the crown to help it's people. The people get paid by the crown to help you. How will I have to pay you?"

Axton thought about this for a moment. He had never thought about it in those terms before. It also gave him a glimpse into her view of the world.

_*Hmm, that is an interesting way of putting things, Chosen.*_

_*Yes. Moreover sounds like she has been sorely used.*_

_*Or Perhaps a thief expects thievery from everyone else.* _Deonn offered, playing devil's advocate.

"You have a point," Axton conceded to her, "But as for what my help would cost you, nothing."

"Why?" was the suspicious response.

"Because you seem to need more help than most people. Because I want to help you."

Nalani turned back to graves, thoughtful. They sat there in silence until sky began to lighten with false dawn.

"We should head back now, if you are ready. They'll be in a panic if they wake up to find we vanished in the night." The Herald stood and offered her a hand. She ignored it, climbing to her feet on her own.

By the time they had returned the little settlement the sun was just peeping over the horizon. People were up and going about morning chores. Jack rushed to greet them as soon as they approached his home.

"Is everything alright? Your Companions were gone when we woke up." The man asked concern colouring his voice.

"No, everything is fine. Nalani and I just thought we'd take a look around at your lovely little hamlet."

"Oh, well, what do you think?" the self-stylized headman asked with relief in his voice. Nalani suppressed a snort of derision, _'these fools really will believe anything a Herald says won't they? Who in their right mind would get up this early to look at their patch of woods which looks like every other patch or woods?'_

"It is a truly lovely place. You are lucky to live here." The Herald gushed and the man beamed as he ushered them inside to breakfast.

'_He is wasted in this profession! He lies almost as good as I do.' _

As they sat at the table Tasha passed gave Nalani a wink and a grin as she passed behind the Herald. Nalani held in a long-suffering sigh. Today would be a long day.

They stayed in Oak Woods in another day so Axton could help sort out a few problems. Nalani was left to try and figure out what she was going to do. She had missed her chance to escape.

'_Well, the monster is still out there. So I may get another chance at escape. It should have realized I'm here by now. I am going to need better weapons.' _ Nalani wanted for a chance to slip away from Tasha, who persisted in her belief that Nalani and Axton were a pair, and wanted details about what she thought they'd been doing. Nalani settled herself in the lower limbs of an old oak. She whittled at a stick a few inches longer than her fist and tried to plan out her next move. She finished shaping the first one into a fairly straight spike before twisting her braid up and pinning it.

That evening Deonn insisted on keeping a watch to make sure Nalani did not try to leave again. But Axton felt sure that there would not be anymore escape attempts. He had noticed how raw her wrist looked and assumed that she had figured out that the bracelet was not coming off. He did not think she was crazy enough to try and cut it off.

_*Beside Deonn, I feel like we've made a break through. Maybe she will start to open up now.*_

_*Perhaps,* _was his only reply.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Heralds of Valdemar.

**Warning:** Yes, I am deviating from Lackey's Valdemar. No, it is not the end of the world. Relax.

**Chapter 4**

Axton was concerned. Jack had told him that merchants who came through the area had not shown up in over a year; that while the number of bandit raids had dropped, those that occurred seemed to be more organized than usual; and the sightings of a black wolf. The last three towns before Oak Woods had reported much the same things.

'_Trouble is brewing_.' Axton worried. He ad Deonn tossed ideas back and forth about what could possibly be happening. The Herald and his Companion worried about the brewing trouble and did not notice that their companion was on high alert.

That night Nalani did not sleep much. She was glad that the Herald was so distracted by whatever he had learned in Oak Woods. '_This way he is not pestering me about why I am so worked up.' _ Nalani was worried too; all the plans she had pondered on in the little town were no good now. Tasha's monster was following them as expected but it wasn't alone. Nalani briefly considered bolting when they attacked and leaving the Herald to his own defenses. She quickly dismissed the idea.

'_He paid respects to my dead. I owe him for that.' _ Nalani decided. She shifted to get more comfortable against the tree she was leaning against. She knew they were out there, watching. She could feel their gazes and sense them as the slipped around the little camp. Nalani silently rummaged for her flute's case. She flipped it open and removed the flute. Under the flute was a tiny compartment magically hidden from all but the flute's owner. She pulled out a leather thing that had four long fangs hanging from it. She slipped it over her head and under her tunic. '_They should attack tomorrow or the next day. He isn't as patient as his bitch was.' _She settled down to a long night of light sleeping and watching their stalkers.

They set out that morning as usually. The weather was finally turning cool. Axton was looking forward to making good time; there was a way station within a day's ride. A few more days ride beyond that was the next town.

'_Maybe there will be some more clues as to what is going on there.' _He hoped. It was nearing noon when a large black wolf slipped out onto the road in front of them. Deonn pulled up with a snort. Axton eyed the animal.

'_Something is wrong with it…scales? It has scales?'_

_*What is that?_* Deonn asked, *_It is not a wolf._*

Buck came to a stop abreast of Deonn. Nalani leaned toward Axton but her eyes did not leave the beast standing in the road.

"When I say so you run."

"What is that?"

"A wysra." Axton could feel Deonn surprise echoing his own.

"What is it doing here?"

"Hunting. They are too fast for you and poisonous. So you run when I say."

"They won't give chase? Can we out run them?"

"You can."

It took him a moment to figure out what she was saying, "Wait, I'm not going to leave you here!" Something flitted over her face, there and gone.

"I can handle myself, but not if I have to protect the three of you." she looked down and addressed Deonn for the first time since joining them, "You run… and don't come back."

The thing made a hissing chuffing sound. Axton looked with surprise at Nalani as snarled back in the same hissing. The thing made a different high pitched hissing that Axton realized was laughter. As the wysra laughed a change came over Nalani. The woman Axton and Deonn had been traveling with all this time was coolly disinterested and uncaring, but this Nalani was cold and hard. Before, if he had been drowning she might have thrown a rope, if it benefitted her, but not only would this Nalani not throw a line, she'd hold him under.

"You ssstill talk like a mind hurt sssnake," it replied in oddly accented Karasite increasing the shock of Herald and Companion, "When we got word of two white ridersss I did not think to find you here."

*_They can talk!_* Deonn's answer was echoed surprise.

"You're slipping. I've known where you were for days." Nalani mocked in near perfect Karasite. The wysra narrowed it's yellow eyes.

"Not only are you sssleeping with your enemy, you have joined them?" A muscle tightened in the thief's neck.

"Desperation makes strange bedfellows. _You_ should know that."

"How did you manage to tame thisss viper white rider? I would trade you the ssstory for a few more hoursss of your life. " The wysra laughed to Axton.

"Who are you? What are doing here?" Axton demanded. Deonn pinned his ears and bared his teeth at the scaled creature. The wysra turned back to Nalani.

"The Massster will be ssso _pleasssed_ to sssee you again. He wasss very angry when you left."

The colour drained from Nalani's face, "…you will take me back to him? Alive?"

"Oh yesss. After we eat."

Nalani looked contemplative. Two more wysra came out of the wood. They eyed Axton and Deonn while twisting aground each other in a hypnotic pattern. For a moment Axton thought Nalani was going to agree to go with them. Deonn tensed ready to run.

"Ah, little sssnake you have not changed." That seemed to decide Nalani.

"I will not let you harm them. They are under _my _protection." The wysra started to laugh so hard it had to sit down.

"You? Ha! You let thisss one defend you white rider? Ssshe hasss killed many and sssaved none! Thossse mossst dear ssshe ssslaysss herssself!"

Nalani went rigid her face twisted in a snarl. Axton tried to watch Nalani but the twisting wysra kept catching his eye.

"You choossse ssstupid again. We would have ssspared you."

"Humph, your bitch told me the same thing," Nalani swung down from the saddle and pulled a leather thong out from under her shirt. Four long fangs hung from it.

'_Where did that come from?' _Axton wondered abstractly as he eased his bow off the back of the saddle. The gaze of all three wysra locked onto the fangs.

"Never asked where she went? Ah well, you aresuch a good, obedient _dog_." The wysra hissed something at her.

"She said the same thing before I put a blade in her and then cut out her fangs!"

The wysra gave a shrill howl and lunged. Nalani pulled her knives. Axton loosed and arrow at the charging monster. It dodged the arrow, but that attracted the attention of one of the other wysra.

"Run!" Nalani cried as the wysra lunged at her. She followed that with a trill and a gesture that had Buck flying away down the road. Axton fired a second arrow causing the wysra to dodge to the side. Another wysra silently streaked past and slashed at Deonn, gashing his neck. The Companion lashed at it with his hooves but the thing slipped out of range. Axton fired an arrow at it. The wysra nipped to the side and lunge forward again only to be hit in the side by Nalani's flying tackle.

"Go!" she yelled as she rolled away from the snapping beast.

As Nalani slipped to the side she slashed with her knife. Another wysra leapt over the back of her target at her. She danced aside. The third wysra streaked past again. This time it sliced into Deonn's shoulder. Nalani's knife clattered against it's side, glancing off it's scales. Another wysra slammed into her side bowling her over. Deonn realized that he did not have a chance against the wysra and neither did his Chosen or Nalani if they stayed. Pivoting on his hind feet he chased after Buck.

*_What are doing?_* Axton cried, *_Go back!_*

*_No! You and I don't stand a chance against them._*

*_We can't leave Nalani!_*

*_She seems to be doing far better then us._* Deonn answered. He suppressed his fear that they were abandoning her to her death. For a moment he wondered if that would not be such a bad thing. The woman had too many secrets. Secrets that were going to get his Chosen and him killed. But something was going on around here and Nalani was probably their best source of information. He just needed to get his Chosen away from the fight so she could deal with the wysra. Besides, if he and Axton died it could be a year or more before a Herald came through here again. By then it might be too late to stop whatever was going on. Axton looked back to see if her could spot Nalani. Instead, he spotted a wysra racing after them.

*_We have company.* _Deonn put on more speed.

_* Slow down a bit, Deonn. Try to keep it following as long as possible._*

Nalani was relieved to hear the Companion run away. She ducked a lunging wysra and spun to meet the oncoming charge of the second. Like a bullfighter she swung her hips to the side at the last instant and slammed her knife down and back trying to go against the scales. She felt her blade bite deeply into the meat between the left shoulder blade and the spine. The wysra shrieked and twisted away, favouring it's leg. The other wysra hit her from behind, tearing her back open. It was like someone had shattered a window in her head. Her defenses screamed. She dropped to her knees her hands pressed to the sides of her head. The ground spun below her. The wysra circled her, suspicious of her sudden change of behaviour.

The wounded wysra slashed at her; it's claws opened the left side of her face. The attack jarred Nalani out of her daze but she could not see out of her left eye. She did not show that she was on the attack again. Instead, she slowly eased one of the spikes from her hair. The other wysra attacked her head on, knocking her onto her back. It's claws cut into the right side of her neck, but she ignored that and slammed the spike through the monster's eye and into it's brain.

Nalani shoved the dead wysra at the lunging one. The wounded wysra leapt around it's companion's body but it's wound shoulder folded as it landed. Nalani was on it in a flash. Snatching up her fallen knife she swiped at the wounded shoulder again, deepening the cut. The wysra struggled to three feet. The fourth leg hung loosely from it's body. The fighters eyed each other. Nalani let her gaze drift away from her opponent as though she had seen something else and tensed as though expecting an attack. The wysra thinking it's leader had returned, sprang at her. The thief shifted to the left and the wysra landed next to her. She kicked it's shoulder knocking it's weight onto the wounded side. The monster fell and Nalani followed it down. She planted her blade in the back of it's skull.

She rose panting. Her face and neck hurt but her back _burned_. She could feel her energy draining away as her protections struggled to repair themselves. Nalani gathered her thrown knife. She carefully cut out the fangs of her two kills, and stashed them in her belt pouch, before setting off at a dogtrot after her mare. There was one more wysra to kill.

'_I hope he didn't run too far off. I don't think I'll have the strength to kill him if I don't find him soon.' _ She kept one knife in hand and in the other she palmed her last stake. She trotted down the road until she felt like she was being watched.

"Your pack is dead." She called to the circling wysra.

"Yoursss too." Nalani stood in the middle of the road at the ready. The attack came from her left. The wysra bowled her over; her knife was knocked from her hand and a cut opened up on her ribs.

'_He's going to kill me if I don't end this now.' _Nalani lay on her back, panting, as though she was winded. The wysra jumped on her, snapping at her face. Nalani shoved her left fore arm into it's mouth to keep it from grabbing her neck. She felt the sting of it's claws slicing down her right shin. Nalani pulled back with her right hand punched with the wooden spike. It drove deep into the vulnerable eye. The wysra collapsed on top of her. Nalani lay in the road trying to catch her breath. She felt herself slipping. Her defences sapped at the invading wysra poison but returned to trying to heal the damage done to it. Her protections would repair themselves first even if it killed her to do so. Stubbornly, she pulled herself up and took her trophies. Almost without any conscious thought she started her limping way down the road.

'_I hope Buck is safe…Axton too….' _ Were her last thoughts before her mind shut down.

Around the time that Deonn caught up with the fleeing mare the wysra abandoned the chase. Deonn moved beside Buck but every time Axton tried to grab her she moved away. Deonn tried to cut her off but she kept going around him. They had no choice but to follow after her. She cantered on and on until she was dripping sweat. Over an hour went by before the mare slowed to a trot.

"This mare is too well trained." Axton muttered. Deonn snorted his agreement.

As the Companion paced the mare he voiced his concerns, _*Chosen, I know you don't like it, but I think that the time for patience has passed. I am fast and though Nalani is very fast she is not faster than I am. So how is it that she can dodge wysra and I cannot? How does she know their language? Who is this 'Master' that they both seemed to work for? We need answers before we get killed.*_

_*You're right. I think it is time we had some answers.* _ The mare slowed to a walk, but did not stop. She did not stop until her sweat had dried. Axton swung off and grabbed the mare's reins before she decided to take off again.

*_The way station should be just ahead. We can leave her there._* they found the rest stop down a little trail that led a ways from the road. Axton pulled the mare's tack and slung it into the station, stuffed her into the little stall, and tossed the mare some hay and water. Then Deonn flew back the way they had come. He was a Companion and had more endurance than any horse.

Axton did not find Nalani; instead he found a trail of blood, which led to his ward. She was off the side of the road braced under a huge elm. She did not react as he approached and Axton feared that she was dead. She was covered in drying blood both her own red and black of the wysra. When he touched her shoulder she lashed out with the knife in her right hand. The attack was listless and Axton easily deflected it. He eased the blade out of hand. She grabbed at his arm with her other hand but her the muscles in her arm were too mangled to allow her to do anything.

"Easy, its me."

One eye cracked open, "…you…came… back…?"

"You're a mess."

"I …won," she gave a crooked grin and then started coughing and retching, "…poisoned… wysra bite." She groaned as Axton helped her sit back up. The retching fit seemed to have drained her even more.

"You need Healing." Axton was more a mage than Healer but he did have a moderate dose of the Healing Gift. He called up his Gift and reached out for his ward's ragged neck. Nalani surged into action. She grabbed his hand with both of hers and pushed it away.

"No Healing!"

"You will die if I don't Heal you."

Nalani sagged back against her prop. She grimaced with the pain her actions caused her, "Good…I…deserve it." She panted.

"No you do not!" Axton snapped back surprising them both with his vehemence. Nalani gave a small smile and patted his shoulder with her good hand.

"It's ok…not leaving kid….Just… need rest Ti… be fine…soon..."

*_I think she is hallucinating._* Deonn noted. Nalani went limp as she finally passed out. Axton took his opportunity to try and Heal her. He frowned and sat back on his haunches.

"I can't Heal her. My magic just keeps…sliding off."

*_What do mean?_*

"Its like trying to Heal a table. Its like she's not even there."

*_Do you think it might be an effect of the wysra's poison?_*

"Maybe. We don't know much about them. It isn't like they are common here."

*_Let's get back to the way station. It'll be dark soon. You can treat her there._*

Axton gathered up the unconscious woman and Deonn knelt so Axton could get on. The ride back the station was agonizingly slow to Axton. He could feel Nalani's temperature rising and her breathing became more ragged and shallow. Shortly after nightfall they made it back to the tiny cabin. Axton eased his ward onto the cot and gathered up all the medical equipment. He pulled water from the little well near by and set it over the fire. He called up a mage light so he could see what he was doing and cut off Nalani's shredded tunic and stopped.

"Do you see this Deonn?" He let Deonn see through him and felt his Companion's echoed horror. Beneath the new wounds and bruises was a myriad of old scars. There was not an inch of her torso that was not marred by a scar. Axton eased her forward to see if her back had suffered the same fate. He nearly dropped her at what he found.

Her back was free of scars, instead it was covered from shoulder to shoulder and shoulder to waist with a huge intricate rune. It appeared to have been cut into her flesh and gleamed dull red in the mage light.

"Stars! Is that what I think it is?"

*_It's a blood rune! Those are used in blood magic and demon summoning!_*

"What in the hells is it doing on her? "

*_We really need some answers Chosen._*


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Heralds of Valdemar.

**Warning:** Yes, I am deviating from Lackey's Valdemar. No, it is not the end of the world. Relax.

**Chapter 5**

The answers that Axton and Deonn desired were slow in coming. Since Nalani could not be Healed she had to be taken care of the traditional way. Axton tried not to speculate on what all the marks on Nalani meant, he did not want to start jumping to conclusions without any information, but it was difficult. However, he and Deonn agreed that at least some of them entailed Healing because Nalani's wounds were healing for too quickly and though neither of them knew how to treat wysra poison she seemed to be healing from that as well.

Nalani came awake slowly. '_Where am I? A bed?' _ She bolted up and instantly regretted it. The room tilted crazily and Nalani barely had enough time to get to the door. She leaded against the doorframe just outside and threw up. When her stomache stopped rebelling she leaned back against the frame and tried to catch her breath. _'I'm alive. I can't believe I survived. Ouch! This is why I hate fighting wysra. Their wounds hurt with an unholy pain.' _Something wooden clattered to her left but she did not want to risk opening her eyes and experiencing more vertigo.

"You're up. A few more days and I was going to head out for a Healer."

"How long was I out?" she groaned.

"Four days."

"Only four days…" Nalani fell to cackling madly. She had to clutch the frame to keep for falling over.

"I fail to see what is so funny about that."

"Histhis put me put down for nine days. I wish I hadn't killed Sithin so I could rub it in his face! Arrogant prick, always though he was so powerful." She cackled madly again. She put a hand to her side as she laughed and suddenly realized that except for bandages and her undergarments, she was not wearing anything. The laugher and the blood drained from her face.

"Oh. Oh Damn. So I guess it's off with my head now?"

"What? No!"

"Oh, right. You have to interrogate me first. I always forget about that part. Well, best get started."

"I am not going to torture you, but you are going to answer my questions."

"And you will just take me at my word?"

"No, you are going to do whatever you need to do to allow me to put a Truth Spell on you, just like you did at the Collegium."

"If I refuse?"

"Then you will spend the rest of my circuit in chains and under guard. I will return you to the Collegium. You will answer their questions or spend the rest of your days in a cell."

Nalani though for a moment, _'Hm, perhaps I have underestimated him. For a bloodless threat that wasn't half bad. I really don't want to be locked up again.'_

"Alright. You will get your answers, but on one condition."

"What?"

"I want some clothes."

Axton passed a mug of willow tea to her. Nalani took a seat at the head of the cot where she could lean against the wall. She had calmed down a bit once she was dressed.

"What is this?" she sniffed and stared at it for a long moment.

"Willow tea, for the pain." She eyed him for a long minute before drinking the entire mug in one go. Nalani leaned back against the wall, took several deep breaths, and nodded to him when she was ready. He cast the Truth Spell the _vrondi _popped into the air. It circled and wobbled around Nalani's head a few times before settling on her. Deonn pushed open the shutter that covered the window between the stable and the inside of the way station.

*****_That was odd.*_

_*Looked like it couldn't figure out where to go.*_

"First," Axton held up his hand. "How many fingers am I hold up?"

Nalani rolled her eyes. "Four." Axton held up his other hand.

"Lie this time. Now how many?"

"Fifteen. And three quarters." The _vrondi _glowed blue signaling the lie.

"Okay, then let's get to business. What is that thing on your back? What does it do?"

"It's a Blood Rune. It binds my Power and channels it into whatever it symbolizes."

_*She obviously has some voluntary control over it. But how much?*_

"How much control do you have over it?"

"I can moderate it; rein it in to some degree, like now."

"What does it channel your Gift into?"

"It has a Healing component to it, which is why I am not dead from the wysra poison since I doubt you know how to cure it." Nalani paused and studied Axton and then Deonn for a long moment before continuing. "But it's main task is to Hide me. I am immune, in a sense, to magic. I can't be Healed, Scryed, Seen, Searched, or Tracked. Unless I am actively suppressing, like now."

_* She is a Mage's Bane, Chosen! Magic has no effect on her. She is well trained in the killing arts and a con artist to boot. She talks her way in, or just sneaks into a place, robs it or kills the mage, and slips out without triggering wards or being harmed by the mage's spells. Then she can't be Tracked afterward. She's a mage killer.* _

Instinctively Axton reached for the knife on his belt. His gaze flicked up to Nalani's, for just a moment he though she looked hurt, but her mocking gaze chased it away too fast for him to be sure.

"Peace, Herald-_mage_, if I wanted you dead you would be. " she gestured to her wounds, "It should be apparent by now that that is not my goal."

"What is your goal?"

"To kill the man who did this to me."

"This was done against your will?"

"No, I woke up one day and decided I wanted to kill people for a living." Was her acerbic reply. The _vrondi _turned bright blue.

"It wouldn't be the first time its happened."

"No, this is not my chosen line of work. It was forced upon me and I am going to kill the man who forced me. " The _vrondi _ faded from sight.

"Who is he?" Now Nalani showed some interest in the conversation, her veneer of disdain vanished.

"His name is Deton. He used to be a minour Hardorn nobleman with great aspirations. He had some small mage gift that he amplified with blood magic. He used it to climb the ranks. It didn't do him much good, he wasn't very creative, until he got me, that is. I gathered information for him, stole for him, killed for him; until I was able to escape him. His was ousted as a blood mage shortly afterward and was forced to flee the country or be tried and executed."

"Why didn't you kill him?"

"The wysra. They are, excuse me _were_, his inner guard. I couldn't kill them all at once plus him and all the other guards. He'll be in fits when they don't come back." She grinned.

"How'd he get them? And control them?"

Nalani shrugged then winced as it jerked at her wounds, "No clue. He had them before he acquired us. As to controlling them, they're sentient he just made a deal with them."

"_Us?_" Nalani twitched at her unintentional slip.

"You think I was his only Bane?"

"How many Banes does he have?"

"Unless he's made more, none. I killed the other when I fled."

"Back to the wysra, what deal did he have with them?"

"I don't know! I was just a tool, not his confidante. I overheard Histhis reference it a few times."

"How did you learn to speak wysra?"

"I lived with them for years. It was a necessity."

"How many does he have?"

"Again, unless he's gotten more, none. Those three were the last."

"You took them out easily enough. So why didn't you just kill them earlier and try to kill this Deton?"

"Are you not listening? He had human guards, another Mage Bane, and five wysra! Look at the damage three did to me. I appreciate your high estimation of my skills but I'm not _that_ good."

"Why does the bracelet work if magic isn't supposed to work on you?"

"The tracking spell is on the bracelet. The spell allows the wearer of one bracelet track the location of the other bracelet. Is this game of twenty questions over? I am tired and I'd like to know what you are going to do to me."

"Do to you? Well, I was intending to feed you, but if you are against that then I'll just go straight back to hauling wood." Nalani eyed him incredulously. She sighed and the _vrondi _slipped off her with a squeak. It circled a few times as though confused, and vanished. Axton brought her a bowl of cold soup and left her to eat it.

The Herald went back to hauling wood while his Companion watched. Axton needed to move, do something physically repetitive, so his mind could sort this new information.

_*What do you think we should do?* _he asked Deonn.

*_I don't know._* A long silence stretched between them.

*_Well… what are our options Deonn?*_

_*Well, we can kill her here and now._*

*_No, we're not murders._* Was Axton quick answer, he could feel Deonn's distaste at that option as well.

*_Two, we take her back to the Collegium and let them deal with her._*

*_What if she's telling the truth and that blood mage is nearby?_* Axton countered.

*_That is option three. We hunt this blood mage down together._*****

*****_Afterward____we can take her to the Collegium and explain everything to them; she is still a prisoner of Valdemar.___*****

*_Yes, but can we trust her?* _

*_Yes.* _Axton firmly answered. He suddenly realized that of all the things he wondered about her, her trustworthiness was not one of them._ *She could have killed us at almost anytime. It would have been weeks before someone realized that we hadn't reported in, especially once we got out here near the boarder. Instead, she saved our lives. We could not have defeated one wysra, much less three. She could have let them kill us and then dealt with them. Instead, she put herself between them and us.*_

_ *You put a lot of faith in a Mage Bane. Blood magic is so abhorred because it corrupts both the wielder and the one whom it is used on. You know this.*_

_ *She can't be all bad. She ran off to mourn a bunch of graves that were probably people she knew, perhaps her family…. She took the time to bury those people and mourn them. She's not all evil.*_

_*Even corrupt people can love. It doesn't change the fact that they are evil.*_

_*Nevertheless, I think the best course is to get her help in catching this blood mage. Besides we can always alter the plan later if we need to.* _Then Axton asked _*Do you think she is beyond saving?* _Deonn was slow in answering.

_*I think that she has been corrupted by the mark she wears and by what she has done, yes. You saw how she changed when the wysra challenged her. But I think, that she has been able to focus it, control it, with her desire to kill this mage. I wonder, and fear, what will happen when she achieves her goal. What will she turn into when she has nothing to aim all that bloodlust and rage at?*_

It was evening by the time Axton finished his work.Nalani had dozed off, the empty bowl in her lap, but she snapped awake as he approached.

"This mage is a threat to Valdemar. You know him the best, so I want your help in capturing him. Afterward, I am taking you back to the Collegium and they will listen to your tale and decide what to do with you."

"So you don't have to nerve to kill me in cold blood? You'll let your superiors do it for you." She barked a laugh.

"Would you prefer I kill you now?" he countered.

"No."

"How do you know this Deton is nearby?"

"No Truth Spell? You'll trust my word?"

"I trust you want him dead."

"The wysra. He'd not let them wander far. Why not kill me now? Why wait?"

"I am an agent of the Crown, not a vigilante. That means I am beholden to the laws of Valdemar. You do not pose an immediate danger. So you will stand trail before the courts and answer for your crimes as they see fit."

"But you are allowing me to kill Deton."

"No, you are going to help me catch him and take him back to the capital. He will also answer for his misdeeds." Nalani went dangerously still.

"I will have his head! You are not going to stop me from killing him!" she hissed.

"You assistance in this is not mandatory. If you cannot abide by the law then I will not allow you to be involved in this any further. Besides," he added hoping to defuse the situation, "would you rather he have a quick death at your hand or spend the rest of his life in a magically warded jail cell?"

"When did I say his death would be quick?" She snapped back but the anger had fled and was replaced with thoughtfulness. A feral grin slowly grew. "Hm, to let him spend the rest of his years in a cage, chained to the floor, his magic just out of reach...yes. I like that… I like that a lot. All right, I'll play this your way. But you had better not be lying to me." He waved her threat aside.

The next morning Nalani woke early. She laid on the cot thinking about the events of the previous day. She was still confused and disturbed that they had not killed her. _'Why didn't they kill me? They should have just killed me outright…. But now they will use my talents and then kill me. Perhaps these Heralds are not as noble as they would have everyone think they are?' _For some reason the though of Axton having to kill her distressed her. Her ability to read people stirred in the corner where she had shoved it trying to give her insights she did not want. '_Perhaps they have some special executioner so he won't have to do it…_' But these thoughts also made her uneasy so she hauled herself up and went in search of her gear. It was easy to find in the small building. She dug her knives out and went outside. _'At least now I can practice. I've gotten so slow. Use it or lose it.' _She pushed everything from her mind: the worries, the confusion, the pain, all of it, and got to work.By midmorning her wounds were weeping and by the afternoon they burned bled freely. Axton tried to convince her to stop and rest.

"For weeks I have been sitting about getting slow and weak. Now my quarry is near and I am not ready!" She growled at him.

"You'll have an even harder time killing him if you bleed to death." Nalani turned away, dismissing him. She practiced a few hours more before stopping to meditate. The Rune was disrupted and that made it harder to control and direct. She, with no small effort, she bent it to her will, forcing it to focus it's Healing on burning out the last traces of the wysra poison. Then she turned it to the deeper wounds that affected her fighting. When it grew dark Nalani hauled herself up, fed Buck, and went inside. Axton had already cooked and eaten. She devoured her share, ripped the blanket off the bed, slid under the cot and did not move until the next morning. The next day saw a repeat of her new routine. Three days later Nalani started including Buck into her training sessions. Shortly after that in the early morning, before she started her training with Buck, Axton approached her, sheathed sword in hand. Nalani tensed sliding into a battle stance.

"Do you mind if I join you?"

"Why?"

"We should know how to fight together. I don't expect this Deton fellow to just surrender to us."

'_Makes sense. I could get a good feel for his fighting style. It'll make it easier to kill him later.' _She immediately shied away from that though. "Alright. Just don't slow me down."

They sat panting on the ground. Axton was surprised at how fast Nalani was, even wounded she was blindingly fast. Sometimes he felt that she was holding back so he could keep pace. He was even more impressed at how fast she was healing. Every day her wounds were markedly improved even with her constant reopening them. Her leg and side were almost completely healed. The wounds on her neck and face were not too far behind them. Though they were going to leave some nasty scars.

"The Rune gets its strength from your Gift correct?" He pressed her with questions now and again trying to ferret out more about her past. Sometimes she answered usually she did not. He watched her carefully decide how much to tell him. Since he had started training with her, Axton was able to read her body language more and more easily. Plus, since Axton knew what she was, she no longer tried so hard to hide her more bloodthirsty side.

"Yes."

"So you were very powerful once."

"I still am." She warned.

"What's it like? Wearing that thing, having your Gift tied up." She rubbed at the drying blood on her neck. She closed her eyes frowning.

"Its like… being in a room that is dark and cold. My Gift is like a patch of light, and warmth, that is just out of my reach." She shook her head and turned to Axton.

"Why did you continue spare me? You saw that I am tainted, evil, even if you did not know the exact nature of it. Even now that you know you still spare me, why? And it isn't because you need me to kill Deton. You have options, resources." Nalani's gaze was intent, almost predatory.

"As long as you are alive you can change. Do you think you are evil?"

"Yes." Was her quick reply.

"No, think carefully. You've done evil things but do you think you are truly corrupt? All they way to your heart? Utterly beyond saving?" She sat thinking for several minutes before slowly answering.

"Yes."

"Well, I don't believe that. I have seen people who are utterly beyond saving and you don't act like that. If you were completely evil you would have killed me months ago or let the wysra do it. So you aren't all bad, you can change."

"I can't believe that."

"Well, until you can, I will believe it for you." Nalani looked at him as though she had never seen him before. Her gaze was piercing and Axton quickly became uncomfortable under it.

"How about round two?" he stood and brushed off his pants. He offered her a hand, usually she never took it, but this time she did. Axton covered his surprise and pulled her up. She did not release his hand.

"You are a strange man." She cocked her head to the side, "But if there were more people like you, perhaps, there would be fewer people like me."

"You can still become like me. Nothing is stopping you." Nalani waved his comment aside.

"We should get on the road soon. I can travel. Deton will be worried now that his wysra have been missing almost three weeks."

"Then we'll head out tomorrow."


End file.
